My students in grades K and 1st created these beautifully vibrant leaves for the fall trees I made on my schools bulletin board recently! It took just 1 art class (40 minutes) to create.
I did this a couple years back and I’m always SO impressed at how bright and vivid the colors come out! And how rarely any leaves end up being brown or muddy!
We used Roylco brand diffusing leaves (you can purchase these on Amazon in packs of 80 leaves -3 different leaf varieties). I’ll also share a pic of how I did the bulletin board one year with the leaves as a wreath for the holiday season below.
Kids colored on their leaf (1 per student) with any colors of the rainbow they wanted (plus teal and pink) with bingo daubers until the entire leaf was colored in. Before they colored, we talked about colors and discussed what two primary colors make secondary colors. I was VERY impressed with my kindergarten students knowledge on this!!
Once they finished coloring, I sprayed their leaf (while on top of a messy mat) with a water spray bottle (about 4-5 sprays) about 12” away from their leaf. Students loved seeing the water spread the ink and watching their colors blend!
After letting the leaves dry in the drying rack black veins were added using oil pastel, then I stapled them on the 3 trees I created earlier. I made them out of crinkling brown construction paper strips and stapling them together.
I love how the trees came out and how it brightens up the hallway for fall!
I’m planning on using the remaining leaves that didn’t fit on the trees, to decorate the edges of my second bulletin board for other “fall” artwork soon!
Here’s a photo of how I used the leaves a couple years ago for the winter holiday!
Thank you SOO very much for following my blog and visiting my website! I know I haven’t been posting on the regular lately but I definitely plan on it this year!!
I have lots of new art lessons that my students are currently working on and I’m EXCITED to share them with you very soon, so be sure to check back and check your email for updates!
Also please be sure to visit my YouTube channel, and subscribe (I was just checking my videos this morning and was surprised and happy to see that my OpArt drawing tutorial video has over 185k views!!!) for more art video tutorials and read-a-loud stories! And you can follow me on Instagram @mammalovespeaches for additional art lessons and ideas!
Thank you so much
This is my 13th year teaching art! 12th year at my current district and 13th year overall!
I just added 24 new art lessons for grades K – 5! This is the first year in my district to teach art to Kindergarten as well!
They have been added to the bottoms of each page under each grade level page (see under menu options). Lessons include steps, photos, and learning goals.
These are the new lessons added:
Kindergarten
Paper diffusing leaves w/ marker and water
Leaf rubbings w/ textured frame
Bugs in a jar
“Little cloud “ inspired by Eric Carle
Organic and geometric shapes Robot
1st grade
Fall tree drawing
Lines makes shapes “house”
Sunflower drawing inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
2nd grade
April showers brings May flowers
Pumpkin tinfoil prints
Owls at night
Snowman in perspective
Superhero masks
3rd grade
3D heart
Sunflowers inspired by Vincent Van Gogh
Spider monkey inspired by Frida Kahlo
4th grade
Patterned pumpkin with oil pastel
Dotted leaf paintings inspired by Brandon Rollin
Spooky eyeball drawings
Symmetrical name creature
Box of chocolates
Tiger paintings inspired by Henri Rousseau
5th grade
Finish the picture
A love yourself drawing
Please follow our art room adventures …(well, more like art on a cart for one of my schools!) AND
@mammalovespeaches on Instagram! Thanks for following! More to come!
This lesson took about (4) 40 minute art classes to complete.
On day 1 I discussed with students the many different art careers out there available, then showed them a great video on all the different art related careers out there someone could do for inspiration for this lesson. I wish I could just post the video i showed my students for you here, but for some reason it wont let me embed the video from YouTube. If you search ”MHRD – Careers in Art” you can watch it there.
After the video students were shown a huge variety of various contemporary artists in my Google slides. Then, using their laptops, students logged into my art classroom in Google, and were able to review the slides of artists. Each slide showed 1-3 photos of their artwork, and a small description of the kind of artwork they created. I hyperlinked the photo of the artist to either their blog, their website, an article, or to Wikipedia about the artist.
From there, students took some time researching artists that intrigued them, then selected one artist to focus on.
Days 2-4 were spent thinking about that artists style, and/or what materials they used to create their art with and draw a picture related to and inspired by that artists work. Students looked at ceramicists, photographers, painters, illustrators, fashion designers, interior designers, architects, graphic designers, animators, installation artists, jewelers, video game designers, weavers etc. I also wanted to make sure I included just as many female artists as male artists and to include artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Students then drew using pencil, colored pencils, markers and/or crayons.
On the final day, students filled out a sheet with questions on why they chose that artist and what facts they learned about their chosen artist. Students did such an amazing job on researching independently, and coming up with their own creations and drawing artwork inspired by their chosen artist! Students really enjoyed this lesson and I’m hoping doing this lesson will inspire them to research and learn about additional artists on their own time. I wish I took more photos of their artwork, but check out some of their work below!
This lesson took ( 2 ) 40 minute art classes to create.
Students learned about the artist Charles McGee and we discussed his artwork. We discussed how we’d be utilizing the elements of art, line, shape, and form to create our sculptures. Then students received a sheet of copy paper with 4 lines pre-drawn and photocopied for the class.
Then using a black sharpie marker, students drew a different pattern in each section, creating 5 sections.
DAY 2
Then on day 2, students cut out each section with scissors.
Students then flipped over each strip, and folded back the ends. They then glued the flaps with a glue stick and positioned the flaps on a piece of 8×8” white cardstock paper and pressed for 5 seconds. Students could place each strip wherever they wanted creating height by placing the flaps closer together, and then gluing on other sections on top of previous ones. They had a lot of fun creating these fun and interesting sculptures!
This fun flower lesson was created for my special education class. It’s a 2 day lesson and the materials needed were 3 coffee filters, watercolors, cupcake liners, pipe cleaners, glue sticks, tape and a paper straw.
First students wet the coffee filters down with water using a big paint brush. This allowed the coffee filter to lay flat and also helps absorb and spread drops of paint.
Students then used watercolor paint to paint on various colors of their choice over the entire coffee filter. These 3 filters were then set aside to dry.
On the second day, the filters were folded in half and students drew “bumps” all around the edge to create the petals. Each filter was cut a little smaller than the previous one. Then students glued each opened filter together in the center with a glue stick. A cupcake liner was then glued into the center of their flower. Then using a pipe cleaner, students created a spiral by bending and shaping with their hands. This spiral was then glued into the cupcake liner with a glue stick.
For the final piece, students chose their colored straw and taped it to the back of the coffee filters for the stem.
I never would have thought this is how the school year would end, and I’m sure all you teachers out there (AND PARENTS!!) thought the same.
Our official last day of school was Monday June 22nd. Going into school on June 10th wearing a mask and gloves, to close out out my classroom for the summer and sort through supplies felt so surreal. It was like walking into a time capsule from that last day we were all there on Friday March 13th. Unfinished projects were still in the drying rack, my examples were still up on the board for the following day, and notes to myself on my desk were still there for the following week of March.
BUT….. we made it through! We all figured it out, and I’m very proud of my students and how they rose to the challenge with remote learning.
Here are the final “Art Shout Outs” from learning remotely during these past 3+ months of school closure. As well as a few pics from the last day of school’s 5th grade clap out celebration!
GRADES K-2 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: I CAN CREATE WITH: STICKS!
In this Google slide, students could watch a 6 minute video on the book “STICKS” written and illustrated by Diane Alber.
If you’ve never read this story to your students or kids, I highly recommend it. I have and love, many of her books. Her stories are great and help open up discussions about empathy, kindness, perseverance, and fitting in.
Amazon writes; “Sticks is a story that almost anyone can relate to. It’s about finding yourself in a situation that didn’t turn out like you expected and having your friends and family help you find he courage to pick yourself back up and persevere.”
Next to the video, we added 6 different photos of artwork created using popsicle sticks. From dragonflies, to rainbows and clouds, to bird feeders and people, animals and airplanes… kids were encouraged to create whatever they wanted, using sticks!
Below are some screen shots taken from a video sent to me from one of my 2nd grade students! He designed a really cool plane and decorated the sticks and paper for wings with markers.
POPSICLE STICK AIRPLANE BY PRANEETH J.
Nick created this super sweet popsicle stick rainbow with clouds below!
Artwork by Nick D.
GRADES 3-5 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: I CAN CREATE MY OWN ART MATERIALS AND USE THEM TO PRODUCE ARTWORK
So for this slide, we included a 2 minute video link to watch the “science of art materials” to give kids a better understanding on how art materials are made, a simple recipe on how to make your own air dry clay, and then 3 short videos; how to paint with mud, paint with coffee, and how to make your own sidewalk chalk from home!
Students loved experimenting with creating their own art materials!
Sam D. Created some cool paint by letting skittles dissolve in water! Owen R. Created his own coffee paint! Brielle R. Created her own coffee paint as well!Kelsey S. used mud for painting!
GRADES K-2 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: SUMMER FUN! SELECT ONE TO COMPLETE: ICE PAINTING, DRAW AN ICE CREAM CONE, CREATE YOUR OWN AIRPLANE!
For this slide we included the following; a 50 second video on ice cube painting, how to draw an ice cream cone in 9 simple steps, and a short video on how to make a paper airplane. This was the last week of art activity suggestions, and we wanted to keep it really simple, fun and summery!
Ice Cream by Praneeth J. An assortment of ice cream treats by Sofia D.Mint Ice Cream by Nick D. Ice Cream by Anthony B.
Praneeth sent me another fun video on how he created his airplane and also a super fun slow-mo video on his plane and his brothers plane flying! Below are some screen shots taken from that video.
Airplane by Praneeth J.
GRADES 3-5 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: ARTIST’S CHOICE! SELECT ONE TO COMPLETE! POINT OF VIEW LANDSCAPE, RE-DESIGN A LOGO, OR TAKE A VIRTUAL TOURAT THE MET.
Point of view landscape- draw what you see when you look out your window! We included a pic of a landscape drawing as well as a seascape drawing in this google slide as examples.
Below is a drawing Taylor sent me of her viewpoint looking out her window to her back yard!
Point of view landscape artwork by Taylor M.
Re-design a Logo; We posted 7 different logos to look at in this section of the slide for ideas. Kids had the option of selecting one of those 7, or select one of their own, and to change the colors, image or font!
LOGO RE-DESIGN BY SAM D. LOGO RE-DESIGN BY PRANEETH J. LOGO RE-DESIGN BY JACOB B. LOGO RE-DESIGN BY JORDAN R. LOGO RE-DESIGN BY BRIELLE R. LOGO RE-DESIGN BY KELSEY S.
Although I have no art to show for this art activity suggestion, the last activity choice was to go online and take a virtual tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for kids. Kids were asked to “hop in the time machine” for some interesting art exploration! Click on the link to check it out!
More lovely art sent to me from my students!
Artwork by McKenna Y. Artwork by Katie L. Artwork by Maggie S. Chalk art by Sofia D.
And now for a few pics from the last day of school “5th grade clap out celebration”! …
To those of you reading this that aren’t teachers, students or parents from the North Attleboro school district, normally on the last day of school we line up the hallways inside the school, and all the 5th graders walk down the hall while teachers and staff clap, cheer and hi-five the kids to celebrate their last day at the school. Of course with Covid-19 and social distancing, that had to change. So all the teachers and staff lined up outside the school, 6 feet apart, wearing masks, while families drove by as we all cheered and clapped. It felt so nice to have positive closure for such a bizarre year. And of course it was so nice to see my 5th graders one more time before the school year was over. I’ll miss them!! If any of you guys are reading this, I wish you all the best of luck!! Keep creating, and please stay in touch!
Unfortunately, I forgot to snap pics at Amvet but managed to remember to pull out my phone at Roosevelt later that morning! Some pics below were taken by other staff as well.
Pic above taken behind the school at Roosevelt. Cars all parked here after the clap out to receive awards, t-shirts and yearbooks. (above) The sign I made for the 5th grade celebration Teachers signs for the 5th grade celebrationAmvet staff
I’m excited summer break is here, as I’m sure all of you are too!!
I can’t believe we’re winding down to the last couple of weeks of the school year! Just maybe 1 or 2 more blog entries of “Art Shout outs”!
Here’s round 4!
GRADES K-2 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: I CAN CREATE ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THE BOOK PERFECT SQUARE !
In this Google slide, students could view a YouTube video of their art teacher (myself, Kim or Sarah), reading the book Perfect Square by Michael Hall. It also showed steps on how to fold and cut a rectangular piece of paper to make it square.
Students were asked to change the shape of their square paper into whatever they wanted! Students could cut it, tear it, fold it, twist it, rip it, punch holes in it, etc. to transform their square in a creative way! I love their creations!
PERFECT SQUARE ARTWORK BY OWEN R. PERFECT SQUARE ART BY NICK D. PERFECT SQUARE ARTWORK BY PRANEETH J.
GRADES 3-5 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIESI CAN CREATE:MY OWN MANDALA!
This slide had 6 different mandala examples to look at, as well as a short 3 minute video on how to use the program to create your own mandala online. If you’d like to create your own mandala, click HERE.
My students told me they had a lot of fun creating their mandalas! They turned out amazing too!!
Mandala artwork by Shaurya T. Mandala artwork by Nolan L. Mandala artwork by Sam D. MANDALA ARTWORK BY JORDAN R. MANDALA ARTWORK BY MAYA M. MANDALA ARTWORK BY MAYA M.
MANDALA ARTWORK BY AJ M.
MANDALA ARTWORK BY AJ M. MANDALA ARTWORK BY BRIELLE R.MANDALA ARTWORK BY KELSEY S.MANDALA ARTWORK BY CONNOR F. MANDALA ARTWORK BY TAYLOR M.
GRADES K-2 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIES: I CAN CREATE A TREASURE MAP!
Grab a paper and pencil/marker to create a treasure map. Come up with creative names for places in your own house or backyard. Then go on a treasure hunt with your family! Don’t forget to add color to your map. To make your map look ancient, carefully crumple and uncrumple your map.
In addition, we shared pictures of various maps with buried treasure, and directions on how to age their papers with tea or coffee to make it look like an authentic old map. We also included a 3 minute Youtube video for kids that explains the different parts of a map.
Check out these awesome handmade maps below my students created!
TREASURE MAP CREATED BY PRANEETH J. TREASURE MAP CREATED BY SOFIA D. TREASURE MAP CREATED BY NICK D. TREASURE MAP CREATED BY OWEN R.
GRADES 3-5 ELEMENTARY VISUAL ART ACTIVITIESI CAN CREATE:AN ORIGAMI SCULPTURE!
Included in the Google slide, was a description about origami and its origins;
Origami is the art of paper folding, which is often associated with Japanese culture. In modern usage, the word “origami” is used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin.
Traditionally, it was believed that if one folded 1000 origami cranes, one’s wish would come true. It has also become a symbol of hope and healing during challenging times.
As a result, it has become popular to fold 1000 cranes (in Japanese, called “senbazuru”).
Also included in that slide were 2 short videos on how to create an origami cat/dog (front and back), a flower, a link to check out additional videos to choose from, as well as how to fold and cut a sheet of rectangular paper to make it into a square sheet of paper.
Students had so much fun creating these, and my student Nolan L. sent me a fun video of his cat/dog below!
ORIGAMI BY SAM D. ORIGAMI BY LEIA C. ORIGAMI CRANE BY CHARITH E.
ORIGAMI BY KELSEY S.
ORIGAMI ART BY AJ M.
ORIGAMI BY BRIELLE R. ORIGAMI BY CONNOR F.
ORIGAMI BY MAYA M.
ORIGAMI BY ELLIE L.
ORIGAMI BY DYLAN P. ORIGAMI BY JOCELYN R.
ADDITIONAL ARTWORK BELOW BY NICK D.!
Hope you all enjoyed checking out what my students have been creating! Thank you everyone for submitting your art and keep up the awesome work!!
Stay tuned for another round of Art Shout Outs coming soon! Check below to catch up on all the previous Art Shout Outs 1-3!
Here is the latest batch of artwork from my students, who shared their beautiful creations from home and the art lesson activities!
Grades K-2 Elementary Visual Art Activities
I can draw a pot of flowers: Using a pencil, trace 3-4 circle shapes to begin your drawing. Be sure to include the parts of a flower: stems, petals and leaves. Add a pot design at the bottom if desired, then add color!
Included in that Google slide were 4 pictures from start to finish showing steps on how to draw flowers using various sized circular objects for the center to the finished drawing with a pot. Also included were links to 2 short videos students could watch. One was about flowers; their importance and taking a closer look at the flowers parts, as well as a video on how to draw a flower and a flower pot. Here are some lovely flowers drawn by my K-2 students!
ARTWORK BY ABIGAIL M.ARTWORK BY ANTHONY B.ARTWORK BY OWEN R. ARTWORK BY PRANEETH J.
Grades 3-5 Elementary Visual Art Activities
I can create an OP art drawing: OP Art is drawing an optical illusion. The way the lines are drawn, makes them appear to “pop out” or move.
Included in this google slide were 3 drawings, one just as a pencil drawing so you can see the lines easier, and the other two colored in. In addition, students could watch a short 6 minute YouTube video showing kids how to create an Op art drawing as well!
My students did an awesome job creating their op art! Check them out below!
ARTWORK BY SHAURYA T.OP ART DRAWING BY EVELYN E. (AS WELL AS HANDMADE WORRY DOLLS AND SOME COOL PAINTED EGGS BY EVEYLN AND HER BROTHER HARRY E.) ARTWORK BY AIDEN J.ARTWORK BY AJ M. ARTWORK BY MAYA M.ARTWORK BY KELSEY S.ARTWORK BY ELLIE L.ARTWORK BY DYLAN P.ARTWORK BY BRIELLE R.ARTWORK BY SAM D. ARTWORK BY CONNOR F.
Grades K-2 Elementary Visual Art Activities
I can create: A portrait or self-portrait using a round (circle) shaped plate.
Included in this Google slide were a variety of portraits using plates to create the head, descriptions on the difference between a portrait and a self-portrait, as well as a 3 min. video on found object art plate faces. Check out the artwork below!
ARTWORK BY PRANEETH J.ARTWORK BY OWEN R. ARTWORK BY NICK D.ARTWORK BY SOFIA D.
Bryce R. (below) created some super cool vehicles using plates and other materials! Very creative!
Grades 3-5 Elementary Visual Art Activities
I Can: Observe and record shadows. Draw the contour lines!
Included in this slide were photos of plants leaves casting shadows on paper with a close up pic of all the contour lines drawn of that leaf, pictures of various toys lined up with their fun shadows cast onto paper, and 2 short videos; one showing how to create a shadow drawing, and the other short video was the science behind lights and shadows.
My students had a lot of fun creating these!
Artwork by Shaurya
Below is a series of pics of AJ ‘s awesome shadow artwork!
SHADOW ART BY SAM D. SHADOW ART BY KELSEY S. SHADOW ART BY KATIE L.SHADOW ART BY ELLIE L. SHADOW ART BY CONNOR F.SHADOW ART BY BRIELLE R.SHADOW ART BY DYLAN P.SHADOW ART BY NOLAN L.
Additional artwork below!
A BEAUTIFUL ABSTRACT ACRYLIC POUR BY KELSEY S. AN AWESOME PAPER SHAPE ROBOT BY KATIE L.SUPER CUTE BOB FROGGY BY KATIE L. AWESOME ABSTRACT PAINTING BY KAI M. WONDERFULLY DRAWN ROOSEVELT LOGO BY RILEY R. AWESOME ROBOT DRAWING BY LUCAS P.BEAUTIFUL AND COLORFUL LIZARD PAINTING BY OLIVIA P.FUN ART ROCKS BY LUCAS AND OLIVIA P. AWESOME ELEPHANT DRAWING BY JORDAN R.
BELOW IS A COLLECTION OF AWESOME ARTWORK BY SOFIA D. !
I hope you all enjoyed checking out all the amazing artwork my students are creating!
I’ll be updating this blog post with any additional artwork I receive this week, and will be posting “Art Shout Outs #4” very soon! I can’t wait to see what they create next!
Scroll down to catch up on “Art Shout Outs #2 and #1” in case you missed it! Additionally, if you’re new to my blog, you can scroll up to my main menu and click on art lessons for grades 1-5 with photos of student artwork, lesson descriptions and learning goals, as well ascheck out my YouTube channel, play free online art games, and more.…
I’d love to hear from you too, so feel free to email me any questions or comments anytime under “contact”.
I hope that you and your families are all staying safe and healthy and are enjoying some imaginative, fun ways to create art at home!
I, along with the other two elementary art teachers of North Attleboro are hard at work coming up with creative, fun and engaging art activities that you and your families can try at home while school is closed. Be on the lookout for these fun art activity suggestions! They will be posted on the NAPS extended learning webpage SOON.
I’m also going to be creating some fun NEW step-by-step drawing video tutorials on my YouTube channel soon! I’ll blog these videos once they are filmed and edited and add them to my YouTube channel as well.
I just added some new photos of students creating art. My “Students Creating Art” link can be found under the main menu of this blog. Check that out after reading this if you haven’t already!
If you haven’t checked out my Art Games page, you can click on that link under my menu and play free educational art games as well!
Students, Remember the “What should I draw?” jar in my art room that you could use if you finished an art lesson early?! I’ve JUST included a link to all my original “What Should I Draw?” jar drawing ideas. You can check out that same exact list of drawing ideas found in my jar, HERE! Feel free to copy and print out these for fun drawing ideas to use at home! The link is also in my menu of this website.
1st-5th grade students from both Amvet and Roosevelt North Attleboro Elementary schools- Please Feel free to Email me any photos of any art you’ve been working on while at home! I’d LOVE to hear from you and see what creative things you have been up to!! My teacher email is mfilmore@naschools.net which is also listed in my contact page of this site.
Below are some AWESOME 2nd grade Abstract Self-Portraits students finished creating at Roosevelt Elementary School before schools closed for the time being. I wish I took a photo and could share EVERYONE’S, but was only able to capture a handful. More about this lesson with students creating them below the artwork.
This fun self-portrait lesson combines art exploration
in abstract art and color theory!
This lesson took (3) 40 minute art classes to finish.
On the first day of the lesson, students learned about abstract artwork and looked at a slideshow of artwork by various abstract painters (Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock and William de Cooning to name a few). We discussed how abstract art focuses mainly on lines, shapes, and colors.
ON DAY 1 After viewing the slideshow and doing a quick demo, students drew an abstract drawing using various lines, and shapes on 12×18″ medium weight tagboard. Students then went over all their lines with crayons being sure to press super hard (later on we would do a crayon wax-resist). They then filled out a short questionnaire with questions asking about their favorite things and things about themselves.
ON DAY 2 They painted their drawings using concentrated liquid watercolors creating a crayon wax-resist. Before painting we reviewed what the primary colors, secondary colors and warm and cool colors were. While kids worked, I took each students photo (which I later printed as a high-contrast black & white photo on printer paper).
ON DAY 3 Students
glued their black and white self-portrait onto their painting. Then
students cut out their pre-printed sentences into strips and added them to
their paintings using a glue stick!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and check out other sections on this website for additional art resources and inspiration. And again, be on the lookout for some fun art activity suggestions you can try out at home that us elementary art teachers have created. These art activity suggestions will be posted on the NAPS Extended Learning district webpage soon. Awesome resources are available on that website for students/families to use already!
Stay safe and be strong!…….We will get through this!!
